The Dallas Cowboys (3-1) fell into an early hole against the 49ers (1-3), but came on strong in the second half to scatter San Francisco 24-17. Here's what we learned:
- After jumping out to leads of 6-0, 10-0 and 17-0 over his first three starts, Dak Prescott faced adversity on Sunday with San Francisco building an early 14-point advantage. From there, the Cowboys rookie quarterback showed poise guiding Dallas on an eight-play, 66-yard scoring march capped by his 20-yard touchdown strike to Terrance Williams. Prescott returned on the following series to execute a beautiful two-minute drive, going 8-for-10 on a possession that ended with his four-yard, game-tying scoring lob to Brice Butler just before the half. All of this came without Dez Bryant in the lineup, leaving Prescott (23-of-32 passing for 245 yards) to lean on a hodgepodge of pass-catchers en route to the first multi-touchdown passing performance of his young career.
- The 49ers are a different team at home. After giving up a ridiculous 83 points in back-to-back road losses, San Francisco battled deep into the final quarter. Blaine Gabbert came out firing, tossing a 33-yard scoring strike to Jeremy Kerley on the opening drive before hitting throws of 13, 17 and 25 yards on a second possession that ended with a Carlos Hyde touchdown run for the 14-0 lead. Gabbert's drives from there ended in four punts, a pick, a field goal and downs. He's a solid scrambler, but Gabbert (16 of 23 passing for 196 yards) was exposed on a fourth-quarter bomb to Torrey Smith that drifted short into the arms of Dallas cornerback Morris Claiborne. The Cowboys punched home a field goal on the following drive to close out the scoring.
- Ezekiel Elliott's yardage (51, 83, 140) and yards per carry (2.55, 3.95, 4.67) increased with each game heading into Week 4. His 138 yards at six yards per pop came within a fingernail of extending that trend, but forget the stats: Elliott is a massive talent, who runs downhill with power and grows stronger as the game winds on. He initially struggled against this NaVorro Bowman-led defense, but caught fire once Bowman was lost to a potentially ominous lower-leg injury in the third quarter. Seconds later, Elliott ripped off a 23-yard run that set the table for his one-yard touchdown burst seven plays later. Elliott remains a primary figure in the derby for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
- Carlos Hyde piled up 103 yards on the ground in Week 3, but that output was deceptive as the Niners running back gathered most of his real estate in uber-garbage time. Hyde on Sunday chalked up 74 yards at 4.9 yards per tote and looked good doing it. Running back isn't the problem in San Francisco -- it's just everything surrounding Hyde.
- Even with Vance McDonald out, Gabbert showed chemistry with the tight end position, connecting with Garrett Celek for 79 yards off five catches. Gabbert's prettiest pass of the day come on a second-half field-goal drive that saw him thread the needle to Celek on a 29-yard dart.
- In a home tilt for the Niners, it must have been distressing for the organization to hear raucous waves of visiting fans shouting "Let's go, Cowboys!" and effectively drowning out the Bay Area faithful. Not exactly what the Niners imagined after opening their new digs last season.
